The Forgery of the Wishing Well [Spoken Word]

The eyes are more powerful than the brain

And drive knives into the heart of him

Who had been turned into a moribund toy

By the alienating rapture of a ghost

He loved but never knew

How many men died in her eyes?

Where beauty itself drowned

Nibbling in tortured positions

At mechanical dolls

Sewn hair into stitched skin

Like his own fantasies

Were like a pile of cocaine

Bathing her face in mysterious shadows

As his own went numb

And his pupils dilated

And the Kingdom of Shades

Framed emotionless figurines

Staring at the stars 

For the promised land

Of storybooks

Whispers split the bloodstream

Of passions too subtle to be touched

Signs organize around a watched clock

And hopes make lace from 

A forgery of the wishing well

The way death haunts ghosts

And ghosts haunt life

She haunted his sleep

Made him reap his stitches

Sew his speech

With manipulation

To draw her back into his web

Of shame and pain

Where no one could live but him

This was his new dream

A dream peeled from a nightmare

A nightmare peeled from a hollow fear

That all alone he would endure this place

Without her and his image of her

She was his forgery now

An image he’d projected

From spit and dirt

And a feeling he needed to keep

And be rid of at the same time

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This poem was adapted from a poem I wrote on BaseInfinity for the purpose of being performed at spoken word events.